


Healing Hands

by carissima



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Blow Jobs, Fluff, Fluff and Smut, Hand Jobs, M/M, Smut
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-09-22
Updated: 2013-09-22
Packaged: 2017-12-27 08:48:44
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 17,785
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/976816
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/carissima/pseuds/carissima
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It should be easy because Harry's had years of practice, but somehow he's finding it really hard to treat Liam with any distance at all because all he wants to do is bury his hands in Liam's hair and plant kiss after kiss on his delectable lips. </p><p>Harry is a physio, Liam is a patient, Harry has a huge crush and Liam may or may not like boys.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Healing Hands

**Author's Note:**

> So this started out because Harry said if he wasn't in One Direction, he'd be a physiotherapist. It started as fluffy fun then expanded to a stupidly long story and then it descended into porn, so yeah. Enjoy, leave comments (I love comments, good or bad) and I'll be back soon when inspiration hits for the next one!

"Well, I think you're good to go," Harry says with a smile, patting Niall on the shoulder.

"Please don't be screwing with me," Niall pleads, his face turned up to look at Harry, who tries not to laugh at the desperate expression on the young Irishman's face.

"I promise I'm not," Harry says as he moves behind his desk and picks up a pen to sign his name on Niall's file. "Your knee is completely rehabilitated. My recommendation is to lay off any intensive physical activity for the next two weeks and then to take it easy when you do play football and any other activities that will put pressure on that knee."

"But I can play football again?" Niall asks, leaning forward and Harry knows he hasn't heard anything else Harry has advised.

"Yes, in two weeks," Harry says. "But take it easy, alright?"

"You're the best, Harry," Niall grins happily. "Celebration drinks?"

Harry has been treating Niall for the past three months and he knows Niall has a one-track mind when it comes to football. Niall's knee injury had sidelined him from his weekly sessions, which Harry has learned, through many, many sessions of Niall complaining bitterly and loudly, has been hell for Niall.

He's grown incredibly fond of the Irishman, with his ready smile and easygoing personality. Usually, Harry finds it easy to keep a professional distance from his clients, but Niall doesn't seem to respect normal boundaries. He's been asking Harry to join him and his friends for drinks after every session, and Harry's found it harder and harder to say no each time. Niall is almost impossible to say no to, Harry has realised.

"Uh, well, I guess now that you're off the books, so to speak ..." Harry trails off, shrugging with a little smile. He really does like Niall, he's just so affable and Harry really likes that in a person.

"Yes!" Niall punches the air and stands up to grab hold of Harry and pulls him into a hug before ruffling his hair, much to Harry's bemusement. "Sorry, the guys are always telling me to stop being so handsy. Can't help it, I think it's the Irish blood."

"That's okay," Harry says slowly. "Uh, it's okay if I bring a friend, right?"

"More the merrier," Niall says with a grin and hands his phone to Harry. "Put your number in and I'll text you when and where. This is gonna be so sick, you're going to love the guys, I can just tell."

"If they're anything like you, I'm sure I will," Harry says. And he knows Louis is going to love Niall. In fact, Harry already has plans for them, even though he's going to have to be really subtle about it. And subtlety isn't exactly Harry's middle name - more like klutz, clumsy and obvious. But he's going to give it a try because there's no one he loves more than Louis, and there's no one more perfectly opposite to Louis than Niall, so Harry figures they're going to be a match made in heaven.

"Oh, they're nothing like me," Niall confesses as he moves towards the door, flexing his knee happily. "But they're still great. Not as charming or gorgeous, but they're alright. See you later, Doc!"

With a small wave, which Harry immediately regrets because it's not exactly professional and he still has three more sessions before he can leave the office, Harry watches Niall blow through the door and suddenly there's blissful silence.

He picks up his office phone and dials the one phone number he knows off by heart.

"Yeah?"

"Louis, we're going out tonight," Harry says.

"Great, I've been having a really shitty day," Louis says and Harry can hear the slight edge of frustration in his friend's voice. "What's the plan?"

"Well, we've been invited out by one of my clients, well, former clients," Harry explains. "He's really nice, friendly and charmingly Irish. He's going to text me later with the plan."

"Harry Styles, do you have a crush on a patient of yours?" Louis sounds outraged but Harry knows him better than that.

"As if," Harry replies. "You know how I feel about getting involved with clients. Besides, he's an ex-client now, his knee is fully functioning once again, thanks to yours truly. But no, I don't have a crush on Niall. He's just really great, Louis. You'll love him."

"Harry, are you trying to set the two of us up?" Louis' voice has deepened and Harry knows he has to tread carefully because Louis really, really hates being set up.

"Would I be so stupid?" Harry asks and he rolls his eyes in the comfort of knowing that Louis can't see him. "It's just a drink, Louis. There's no commitment for you to ever see him or his friends ever again if you don't like them."

"Well, I guess I can make it," Louis says slowly. "But the first round's on you."

"Isn't it always?" Harry asks with a grin.

When Louis finally lets Harry off the phone, Harry picks up the next file and sighs. Just three more hours.

Harry and Louis walk into the bar Niall's selected for the evening and Harry quickly spots Niall sitting at a table with what Harry assumes is one of his friends. When he turns around as Niall waves enthusiastically, Harry's taken back with how gorgeous this friend is. He glances over at Louis, who is equally taken aback and they share a look of mutual appreciation before they start grinning stupidly at each other.

"Jesus, he's a fucking masterpiece," Louis mutters.

Elbowing Louis, Harry moves forward and greets Niall with an easy smile before pushing his hair back out of habit. "Hey Niall. This is Louis, my friend and roommate. He's offensive, inappropriate and completely awful, but he's also really funny so it evens out in the end."

Louis merely grins and offers his hand to Niall. Harry can see Niall is amused by Harry's introduction and Harry quickly turns around to offer his hand to the masterpiece standing next to Niall.

"I'm Harry, I'm the genius physiotherapist that fixed Niall's knee," Harry offers with a smile.

"Zayn," the masterpiece replies, holding out his hand to shake Harry's. "So you're the miracle worker who has brought sunshine and football back into Nialler's life."

Harry chuckled as he nodded. "Yeah, I've gotten the impression that football is quite important to Niall over the past three months."

"As important as food," Niall throws in and Harry thinks he's being totally serious. "What are you having?"

Niall disappears to the bar to get the next round in and Harry finds himself next to Zayn while Louis just stares at him, much to Harry's embarrassment. He tries to kick Louis under the table but Louis has reflexes like a cat and just moves to the left and Harry is left kicking air.

"So, Zayn, I'm Louis and you're the most attractive man I've ever met in person," Louis says with a cheeky grin. "Where did you get those cheekbones from?"

"My mother," Zayn says and although he does smile, Harry gets the impression that Zayn is more of a slow build, Harry can see the twinkle in his eyes. "You're pretty forward."

"And you're just pretty," Louis flirts and Zayn chuckles.

"Wow, I think you just broke the record," Niall says as he flops down next to Louis and shares out the drinks. "Normally Zayn doesn't crack a smile until at least the fifth meeting in a social setting."

"He's funny," is all Zayn says but Louis preens.

And it's easy and fun and Harry can't remember the last time he found making friends so easily. Except maybe it was when he met Louis in their first week at university, when Louis had walked up to Harry, announcing that he was Louis Tomlinson and he thought they'd make a really cute couple and Harry had found it so charming that they talked and giggled for hours. When the moment came to move into lovers territory, they both held back and it was the best decision they'd ever made because seven years later, they were still best friends.

When they leave the bar, Louis is trying to stroke Zayn's hair and Zayn's trying to explain to Louis that he's straight, which Harry knows for certain won't stop Louis at all when in fact he really likes a challenge. Harry is walking companionably with Niall, who doesn't seem affected at all by all the alcohol they've put away and Niall is slinging his arm around Harry with a happy smile.

"I'm glad you came out tonight Harry," Niall says. "You're kind of adorable and wonderful, once you're out of work."

"I'm not adorable and wonderful at work?" Harry wonders with a frown.

"Well, you are wonderful," Niall supposes as he pats his knee happily, "but not adorable. You're all serious and sensible and I just knew underneath all that professional sheen there was a cool, funny guy."

Harry flushes. "Uh, Niall, you know that, like, I'm not ..."

Niall throws his head back and laughs. "I'm not hitting on you, Harry, you're not my type. No offense," Niall adds as he sees Harry's frown.

"Harry doesn't date clients or ex-clients or future clients," Louis informs Niall as he slips in between them and links arms with both of them, making it harder for Harry to navigate the path. "It's just a little quirk of his. Total snooze, if you ask me. All those fit, sporty types he sees every day, it's a real shame."

"It's not a quirk, it's a professional requirement," Harry reminds Louis, elbowing him and stepping back so that he doesn't end up tripping over Louis.

"Boring," Louis rolls his eyes. "You're missing out on all these fine specimens of male gorgeousness, like Niall here."

Niall beams, wrapping his arm around Louis' shoulders. "I think you're the smartest person I ever met, Tommo."

Louis mirrored Niall's beam, always pleased to be complimented.

"Don't encourage him," Harry groaned as he tugged Louis away. "We're this way. Thanks for inviting us, Niall, we've had loads of fun. Nice to meet you, Zayn."

"You too," Zayn says with a nod.

"Let's do it again Friday night," Niall calls over his shoulder as Zayn moves him along. "Same place, same time!"

"First round's on Harry!" Louis responds with a cackle as Harry reaches across to tickle him. "He loves getting the first round in!"

"Deal!" Niall's voice carries to them.

"That Zayn is a hottie," Louis sighs as they flop down on the sofa in their living room. "And Niall is all you described, but you forgot to say he has a cheeky grin and a tempting twinkle in his eye that can drive a poor boy mad."

Harry hid his grin. "Glad you had a good time."

"I guess sometimes you have a good idea," Louis concedes. "But most of the time, you're a complete flake."

Harry just shrugs, used to Louis' teasing. He soon heads off to bed and slips under the covers, glad that he broke a small rule tonight and made friends with an ex-client. Something told him that meeting Niall was going to be very good for him and Louis.

Over the next two weeks, Louis and Harry meet up with Niall and Zayn six times, and by the end of the fortnight, they're all fast friends. Louis is delighted to find someone to play football with and he and Niall are often at the local park, kicking a ball around while Harry, who cannot coordinate himself on a football pitch (or anywhere, really) spends time with Zayn, who as an illustrator could pick and choose his own hours and so is often available to just hang out with. Harry quickly got over Zayn's ridiculous good looks and he's getting to know the sweet, sensitive side to Zayn. And when the boys got tired from football, they all headed to the bar.

Harry was between appointments at work when his phone rang. Seeing Niall's number, Harry grins as he answers.

"Hey."

"Harry, I need a favour!" Niall's voice is higher than normal and Harry can tell he's either excited or panicked.

"Okay," Harry says slowly.

"Liam's done something to his shoulder and he needs a referral to a physio so of course I told him about you and have you got an appointment today because it's only been a few hours and he's going crazy already and I've told him about your magical hands and I was going to bring him to the pub tonight anyway and what do you think?"

Harry tries to sort through Niall's rambling speech. "Niall, who is Liam?"

"Oh!" Harry can practically hear Niall slap his own head. "Liam's my best mate, he's been away on business for the past two weeks and now he's back but he did something to his shoulder at the gym because he hadn't worked out in two weeks and pushed himself too far and the doctor says he's torn something and Liam is a really bad patient and he's really stubborn and all he wants to do is go work out so he's driving me and Zayn crazy already and do you have an appointment?"

"Uh," Harry grabs his diary and flicks his gaze down it. With a sigh, he waved goodbye to his lunch break. "Tell him to come in at one and I'll see what I can do."

"You're the best, Harry!" Niall says and Harry can hear the affection in his voice and it almost makes up for the lack of a lunchtime but not quite.

"You owe me the first round," Harry warns Niall but he makes sure that he lets his affection for Niall seep through his voice and he hears Niall agree enthusiastically.

Harry's trying to eat his lunch as quickly as possible when a knock at the door announces the mysterious Liam that he's never heard about before. Harry swallows as fast as he can before swiping the rest of his sandwich into his top drawer and brushing all incriminating evidence of lunch away.

He stands up, brushing down his shirt and flips his hair before opening the door.

The smile and outstretched hand he's offering both freeze as he takes in the beautiful male specimen he's faced with. Liam is tall, broad-shouldered and has the most beautiful brown eyes Harry thinks he's ever seen. His hair is short but swept back slightly and his mouth is curled up in a smile and Harry doesn't think he can move at all. He might be paralysed.

"Uh, Harry, right?" Liam's smile falters a little, probably because Harry is practically drooling all over him and he's probably wondering why Niall has sent him to this utter loser. "Niall said he spoke to you this morning and it'd be okay to come by. Oh, I'm Liam."

Giving himself a mental shake, Harry grabs Liam's right hand, noting that his left hand is tucked up in a sling, and somehow Harry manages to get through a handshake when all he's thinking is how strong Liam's hands are and how perfectly formed his fingers are. Trying to remember that he's the consummate professional, Harry forces himself to smile at this beautiful man.

"Yeah, I'm Harry. Nice to meet you, Liam," and Harry wants to sigh at how perfect his name sounds. And then he wants to slap himself. Get control of yourself, he yells silently. You've seen beautiful men before. Hell, Zayn is more beautiful and even he didn't drive you crazy. "So you're a friend of Niall's?"

Harry turns and heads back to the safety of his desk, indicating that Liam should take a seat opposite.

"Yeah, he's been raving about how good you are and then this morning I sprained my shoulder. I've been icing it all morning but it's still really painful so Niall said he'd call and see if you had some free time. I'm so glad you could fit me in, it's really good of you," Liam says and Harry thinks he's utterly adorable.

"Well, icing it was a good move," Harry says, aiming for brisk and professional and he thinks he just about manages it. "How did it happen?"

"I was bench pressing and I think I loaded too much," Liam says with a sigh and he laughs at himself. "It's my own fault for being so stupid and I knew I should have taken it easy but I've been away for work and I was so eager to get back to the gym that I jumped in too fast."

"You're not the first," Harry says with what he hopes is a wry smile but he's worried it's more like an adoring gaze. "Do you mind if I take a look?"

"Oh of course not!" Liam jumps up and starts to take off his top before the pain kicks in and he grimaces. "Uh, do you need me to take this off?"

Yes. "No, that's okay, I can work around it," Harry says with a smile as he moves behind Liam. He's just a little shorter than Harry and he likes that they're almost the same height. He likes everything about Liam, in fact.

Trying to pretend that he's a professional, Harry puts his hands on Liam's sore shoulder and lightly touches and prods, feeling the injury and trying to ignore Liam's gasps of pain and the way he flinches when Harry tries to feel under the bruising.

"Okay," Harry steps back and tries to focus on something other than Liam's muscular body that Harry's just been feeling up. "The best thing to do is keep resting and icing it for now and when the swelling goes down a little, we can start working on strengthening exercises."

"When can we start those?" Liam sits back down and leans forward eagerly.

"Probably in a few days," Harry says, unable to keep the smile from his face. "Something tells me you and Niall share a passion for exercise."

"Oh, he's much happier now he can play football again," Liam chuckles and Harry stares at Liam's mouth. "I don't think I'm that bad but I do want to get back in the gym as soon as possible."

"Rather you than me," Harry says and he wants to clamp his hand over his mouth because he really shouldn't be flirting with a client.

"You don't like the gym?" Liam's eyes widen as if he can't fathom anyone not loving the gym.

"I'm not really into the whole exercising thing," Harry admits with a grin, amused at the shock on Liam's face.

"But you're a sports physiotherapist," Liam says and Harry cannot cope with how cute Liam looks when he's confused. His eyebrows draw together and his eyes soften and all Harry wants to do is press a soft kiss against Liam's lips, because Harry has no control over himself anymore.

"I know, it's a weird anomaly," Harry admits and he considers sitting on his hands to prevent himself from reaching out to touch Liam again. "Niall thinks I'm sloth-like."

"So can I book an appointment for Friday then?" Liam asks eagerly and Harry forces himself to look at his diary even though he knows he has two free spots.

"I can do 4pm," Harry says, ignoring the free slot at 10am. And he doesn't want to think about why he's ignoring it and it has nothing to do with the fact that he'll probably end up making plans with Niall and Zayn and as it's the last appointment of the day, he might end up spending more time with Liam this way.

"That's perfect, thanks Harry, you're amazing," Liam says and he leans forward to pat Harry's hand.

Harry has to fight the urge to yank his hand away.

"Let's see how fast you heal first before you start singing my praises," Harry says. He almost wishes he wasn't as good as he was so that he could see Liam more often and that's when he knows he's in dangerous territory.

"I believe in you," Liam says earnestly and Harry seriously doubts how anyone can be as sincere as Liam, and yet here he is, standing in front of Harry, looking delectable.

Harry just nods at him because he's afraid to open his mouth.

"Niall said you'd been hanging out recently so I guess I'll see you before Friday," Liam says and Harry thinks he detects a note of pleasure in Liam's voice but it could be wishful thinking.

"Yeah, we guess we've been hanging out on Tuesdays and Thursdays as Louis and Niall play football and Zayn and I hang at his place," Harry explains and he wonders why he's going into so much detail. A simple yes would suffice.

"I'll see you tomorrow then," Liam says with a grin and Harry nods. "It was really nice to meet you Harry, thanks again."

"No problem," Harry says quietly as Liam leaves and he lets his head fall against his desk as he berates his treacherous body. Of all the times to go into crush mode, why did he have to start fancying a client? Who was Niall's friend and Harry really wanted to keep Niall as a friend and it was just so inconvenient to be having these feelings and urges for Niall's friend. And of course there was a pretty good chance that Liam was straight, given the odds.

Harry bangs his head down on the desk heavily and there he stays until his next appointment arrives.

Harry manages to casually explain who Liam is and why he met him to Louis that evening and he doesn't think that Louis figures out that Harry has managed to develop a raging desire to jump Liam's bones in one brief meeting, but he is aware that Louis will probably spot it within five minutes of seeing Harry fumbling around Liam tomorrow night and generally being more of a clumsy idiot than usual, because those are Harry's tells when he has a crush. Louis' are more subtle, but Harry knows them well. Louis becomes meaner than usual, his voice deepens inexplicably and he becomes really handsy. Harry's been keeping a close eye on Louis when he's around Niall and he hasn't developed the signs yet, but Harry is still hopeful, especially when they spend a lot of time playing football alone together.

When Harry knocks on Zayn's door the next evening, he's unsurprised to find Liam sitting on Zayn's sofa, reading one of Zayn's comics.

"Harry!" Liam greets him enthusiastically and Harry melts.

"Hi Liam, how's the shoulder?" Harry says casually, trying to act like Liam isn't the sun and moon in Harry's sky. And geez, since when did he get so fanciful?

"Still sore and bruised but I think the icing is really helping," Liam says with a smile and Harry can't figure out how someone can be in that much pain, because he knows just how bruised Liam's shoulder is, and still be cheerful. It's completely disarming.

"Hopefully we can start applying some heat tomorrow and try a few stretches," Harry says as he takes a seat next to Liam because he's a glutton for punishment.

Liam's dressed in a plaid shirt today and Harry is trying not to notice how the material stretches across his broad shoulders and clings to Liam's biceps. He's also trying not to notice that Liam seems to favour skinny jeans that hang off the hips and how that gives Harry a lot of feelings that he shouldn't be having about a client.

"You want a drink?" Liam jumps up and heads for the kitchen.

"He's aware that he's one-handed, right?" Harry asks Zayn, who has flopped onto the floor and is sketching in one of his pads.

"He's pretty stubborn," Zayn says without looking up. "He'll be pushing himself to get better and probably cause more damage. Just to warn you."

"Oh, he's one of those," Harry sighs. One of those over-achievers who don't like to take their time and wait to heal. Harry's never understood people like that, because it's the complete opposite to how he is. Harry is perfectly happy to wait for things to fall into place, he's never been interested in trying to force something or fit something when it clearly won't fit. It's just not his way.

"Bit of a perfectionist, our Liam," Zayn confirms with a grin.

"Wonderful," Harry says and he wonders how he's going to get Liam to take it easy. He'll figure it out, once he stops drooling over Liam and actually starts working with him and gets to know what makes Liam tick and how best to work with him.

"What's wonderful?" Liam asks as he walks back in and hands Harry a beer that he hadn't asked for but took a drink from gratefully.

"Your perfectionist ways and how you'll probably push yourself too hard, too fast," Zayn says cheerfully.

"I'm not a perfectionist," Liam protests as he reaches out to poke Zayn's ribs with his foot. "I just don't like lying around and wasting time if I can be up and doing something."

"There's a lot to be said for lying around," Zayn says in protest.

"Agreed," Harry says with a smile that Liam returns and it makes Harry feel all warm and happy, sat next to Liam, almost close enough to touch.

"You really are a sloth, aren't you?" Liam asks Harry, who nods happily.

Zayn's phone rings and when he answers it, it's obvious that it's Niall on the other end.

A few limited responses later and Zayn hangs up. "Apparently it's started raining and they want to go to the pub early, so grab your stuff."

Harry jumps up and offers a hand to Liam, who takes it gratefully and uses Harry to haul himself up. "Thanks Harry."

Harry grabs his own coat and helps Liam into his, receiving another thank you and a beaming smile and Harry thinks he could become addicted to those smiles.

Reminding himself that Liam is probably straight, Harry figures now would be a good time to stop fantasising over Liam and start treating him like a client, like any other client, like he treated Niall for three months. It should be easy because Harry's had years of practice, but somehow he's finding it really hard to treat Liam with any distance at all because all he wants to do is bury his hands in Liam's hair and plant kiss after kiss on his delectable lips.

Not exactly correct protocol for patients and their therapists.

"So Liam," Harry turns to him with what he hopes is a reasonably polite smile, "what do you do for a living?"

"I teach music," Liam says. "At the local school and private classes for some of the richer kids."

"Wow, that's cool," Harry says and he really means it. "What do you play?"

"I can play piano and guitar, I'm okay on a drum set and I'm terrible with a violin," Liam chuckles and Harry laughs as well because he's falling a little bit in love with the dorky man next to him. "Zayn is better on drums."

"Louis can play a mean beat on the bongos," Harry says and he flashes back to an interesting night at university when Louis had talked Harry into trying weed and suddenly Louis had turned into every weed-smoking stereotype in the book, including bongos. "And I'm great on the kazoo. If Niall can play an instrument, we can start up a band and go on tour."

"He's really good on the guitar," Liam says solemnly and Harry can't stand how much he wants to kiss Liam right now. He's just so ... so decent. It actually kills Harry how decent Liam is.

When they walk into the bar, Louis and Niall are already seated. They look particularly close and Harry smiles to himself, a smile that widens when they realise the others are there and practically jump apart.

"Not interrupting are we?" Zayn asks and by the sly smile on his face, Harry thinks Zayn is on his wavelength.

"Course not," Louis says smoothly but Harry can hear that Louis' voice has deepened for no reason whatsoever and later Harry is going to high-five Zayn but right now he just takes a seat opposite them and smiles sweetly.

"Louis, this is Liam," Niall introduces them and Louis is soon asking how three such pretty boys ended up being best mates and Liam is flushing and Niall is preening (how very Louis, Harry thinks) and Zayn is rolling his eyes because he's too cool to fall for Louis' flirting.

Harry very deliberately seats himself away from Liam, between Niall and Zayn, and he very deliberately monopolises all of Niall's attention to the point where Harry knows he's annoying Louis but it can't be helped, it's a necessary by-product of Harry's plan to stop obsessing over Liam. Beautiful, sincere, lovely Liam who Harry is treating and therefore is very much out of bounds and very likely straight. Harry thinks that if he just keeps repeating that like a mantra, he'll snap out of it quickly enough.

When Louis pinches him for the umpteenth time that evening, Harry turns around and glares at him. "What?" Harry hisses under his breath, across Zayn who pays them no attention.

"Stop hogging Niall," Louis hisses back, with a jerk of his head.

"He's not your boyfriend, Lou," Harry hisses and he's starting to find the whole conversation much funnier than he should.

The look Louis gives him is full of venom and Harry simply turns his back and carries on talking to Niall.

Harry very successfully manages to not talk to Liam all night. He's both proud of himself and sulking because he really wants to spend every moment with Liam and just stare at his pretty face and maybe lean in and kiss him senseless.

Harry's still not sure what exactly has come over him. He's seen pretty men before. Kissed a couple, taken a few home and even had the odd relationship here and there, although in all honesty, he's not very good at the whole relationship thing. He's never felt this pull before. The speed of which he's fallen for Liam has hit him like a sledgehammer and he's mostly just confused about the whole situation. There's something about the combination of Liam's eyes and Liam's jaw line and Liam's mouth and Liam's shoulders and Liam's hands and Liam's smile and Liam's adorableness that forces all thoughts out of Harry's head until it's Liam. Just Liam. Always Liam.

When they all leave the bar, Harry slips his hand into Louis' and cuddles up to him with his most charming smile.

Louis scowls at him but doesn't move away.

"You're a little shit, you know that?" Louis mutters as he glances ahead at Niall, who is trying to tickle Zayn, who is mostly just batting Niall away like he's an annoying fly, and Liam is chatting about some movie he wants to go see and is desperately trying to convince Zayn to go with him.

"But you still love me," Harry says and his confidence is absolute.

"God knows why," Louis rolls his eyes but sneaks his arm around Harry's waist and tickles him gently.

"Next time, you can have Niall all to yourself," Harry promises and the twinkle in his eye has Louis' face screwing up in annoyance. "It's okay, you can admit that you like him."

Louis scoffs and Harry is delighted. So delighted that he reaches up to ruffle Louis' hair, which he knows for a fact winds him up.

Sure enough, Louis is pushing Harry away and Harry is running away from Louis' sly fingers, laughing over his shoulder as he races past Niall, Zayn and Liam and sees Louis chasing as fast as he can and Harry knows Louis is going to catch him, so he yells out, "Stop him!"

The next thing he hears is Louis' yelping and Harry turns to see Liam has his arms around Louis, laughing as Niall starts to tickle him and Harry grins with complete happiness and it has nothing to do with the fact that Liam saved Harry. Not a thing.

Harry yells out a thanks to the boys and takes off again and the last thing he sees as he takes one last glance back before turning the corner into their street is Liam waving and laughing, one hand still restraining Louis. Harry thinks that image will sustain him through the torment Louis is sure to dish out, as soon as Liam lets him go. But Harry has a feeling that Liam will hold on for a while and give Harry a good head start.

He's right because he's home and pouring two cups of tea (as an apology) before Louis comes bursting through the front door.

"Oh, Harry Styles, you are a dead man," Louis threatens as he steps into the kitchen.

Harry waves a mug of tea in front of Louis as a peace offering and Louis is slightly mollified. Enough that he grabs the tea and gives Harry the stink-eye over the rim.

Harry collapses into the nearest chair and smiles at Louis conciliatory. He knows how to get around Louis and a cup of tea is always the best way to start.

"So, do you want to talk about your raging crush on Niall?" Harry throws out into the silence and grins as Louis' glare narrows.

"I do not have a raging crush," Louis says curtly. "I have a mild infatuation."

"Oh, that's completely different then," Harry says. "Do you normally throw a jealous fit over a mild infatuation?"

"Oh, shove off," Louis mutters and sips his tea.

"I promise I won't monopolise Niall anymore," Harry swears, figuring that Zayn is just as good company.

Louis says nothing.

"Love you," Harry says, nudging Louis gently.

"I really like him, Harry," Louis says finally and Harry's eyes go wide. He's not sure he's ever heard Louis say that about anyone before, and Louis' certainly never been serious about anyone before.

"Fuck," is all Harry can say.

"Thanks mate, knew I could count on you," and Louis' laugh is a little shaky.

Harry shuffles over and puts his arm around Louis' shoulder, feeling Louis lean into him. He lets his thumb stroke Louis' arm comfortingly. "Does he feel the same?"

"No idea," Louis says. "He laughs a lot when we're together, so he definitely thinks I'm hilarious, because I am."

Harry laughs because he knows Louis wants him to.

"I think I'm going to have to charm his socks off," Louis says. "And if that fails, I'll just seduce him."

Harry's seen Louis convince men who thought they were straight to go home with him so he doesn't doubt that he can seduce Niall. "Perhaps you should just bide your time, Lou."

Louis sighs and Harry knows he's listening, which is rare for Louis who normally just goes with his gut instinct, right or wrong. "Yeah."

They stay locked together for a long time.

By 3.45pm, Harry has worked himself into a bit of state. He knows Liam is probably just outside the door and he also knows that he's going to spend the next hour touching Liam and trying to pretend that he doesn't want to climb Liam like a koala and just cling to him.

He's pacing his office, trying to calm himself down and get back into professional mode. He tries lying on the floor but realises that it's a ridiculous thing to do so gets back to his feet and continues pacing. His hands are threading through his curls endlessly until he forces himself to put his hands in his pockets. When he finally feels like he's under control and perhaps he can make it through the next hour without embarrassing both himself and Liam, he sits down and takes a deep breath as he waits for the knock to announce Liam.

When it comes, he clears his throat quietly and calls out for Liam to come in.

Liam appears in the doorway, his face lighting up as he sees Harry and Harry knows he's completely screwed. He knows he shouldn't be smiling dorkily at Liam but that doesn't seem to stop him.

"Hey Harry," Liam says happily. "Good day?"

"A long day," Harry manages to say in a fairly normal voice when all he wants to do is gaze at Liam in his plaid shirt and skinny jeans and wonder whether he wears that to school and whether all the teenagers have hopeless crushes on Mr. Payne and oh god he's practically acting like a teenager himself. "You?"

"Only had lessons this morning," Liam says cheerfully. "Spent the afternoon trying to distract Zayn but he's been working really hard on a commission so it's been a bit boring, to be honest. This appointment is the highlight of my day."

"Please tell me you're joking, Liam," Harry pleads with a grin. "Doing shoulder stretches cannot be the highlight of your day."

"Well, I get to spend the next hour with you, so yeah, it's the highlight," Liam grins.

Harry feels his heart flutter and he tries to tell himself that Liam isn't flirting, that's he's just so genuinely sweet with everyone.

"You won't feel that way at the end of the session," Harry says. "Do you want to take your shirt off so that we can start to apply some heat to that shoulder?"

"Sure," Liam agrees and shirks out of the shirt.

Harry tries really hard not to stare at Liam's biceps in the tank top he's wearing, because Liam doesn't look even hotter than usual and his arm muscles are not mesmerising at all.

Harry moves behind Liam and gently presses a heat pack to Liam's injured shoulder. "I'm just going to hold this for a few minutes and then we can start trying some light exercising."

"So how long do you think it'll be before I can start training again?" Liam asks and Harry can see he's closed his eyes, leaning back into Harry's touch.

Gritting his teeth, Harry takes a deep breath. "Hopefully within eight weeks," he says. He can see Liam's grimace and it amuses him. "Think of it as a holiday. A holiday from all that sweat and work and discipline."

"That's what I love about the gym though," Liam mourns and Harry resists the urge to smooth his hand over Liam's hair to offer comfort.

"You're a real masochist, Liam Payne," Harry teases as he starts to apply pressure on Liam's shoulder, watching Liam's reactions carefully.

"In eight weeks, I'm going to take you to the gym and show you what you're missing," Liam says and Harry is terrified that Liam could probably talk him into it.

"No chance," Harry says firmly and removes the heat pack. "Stretch out your left hand."

Harry moves to stand next to Liam and starts to move Liam's arm slowly round in a circular motion. He apologises softly when Liam grimaces but Liam just waves it off and grins at Harry as if he's having the time of his life and not experiencing a large amount of pain.

In fact, Harry thinks Liam is the most cheerful patient he's ever had.

"How's that?" Harry asks about halfway through the session. He's doing pretty well at focusing on Liam's shoulder and arm and not drifting off into daydreams of Liam's strong arms wrapped around him and lifting him against a wall while Harry sinks his teeth into Liam's collarbone and marks Liam as his. Well, he _had_ been doing pretty well.

"It's good, Harry," Liam says with a smile. "I think you can probably push it a big harder."

"You know I'm not going to fall for that, right?" Harry says wryly and he sees Liam's sheepish smile. "We'll go at my pace and if you try to push it, you'll only end up taking longer to heal."

"I know," Liam says, glancing up at Harry with a grin. "I promise, I'll only do what you tell me."

Harry tries not to picture Liam saying those words naked and in Harry's bed. He tries _really_ hard.

"You're doing really well, Liam," Harry praises as he continues to stretch Liam's shoulder gently.

Liam flushes and Harry realises that he's practically shining with pride at Harry's compliment. Harry makes a mental note to do it more often.

"Only because you're so good at this," Liam returns and Harry feels his own flush creep up his neck.

"Well, that's true," Harry teases and he loves listening to Liam's chuckle.

"What's the plan tonight? Are we meeting up?" Harry asks as Liam moves his arm to the right under Harry's instruction.

"I think Niall wants to stay in and watch some movie or something," Liam says as he concentrates on Harry's instructions. Harry thinks it's adorable how hard Liam is focusing on his instructions.

"Are we invited?" Harry asks and gives himself a mental slap as he realises that he's practically begging for an invite.

"Yeah, of course you are!" Liam turns slightly and gazes up at Harry, eyes wide and solemn.

"Good," Harry grins as he gently lowers Liam's arm and helps him back into his sling. "You did really well today Liam, a good first session."

There's that beaming smile again.

"And I promise I'll behave and stick to the program," Liam says, standing up carefully and slipping his free hand into his pocket.

"I trust you, Liam," Harry feels compelled to say because Liam looks a little worried.

"So will I see you later?" Liam asks and his face is all lit up again.

Harry glances around his desk. "Can you stick around for 10 minutes?"

"Yeah, course I can," Liam answers, although he looks a little confused.

"I can be ready to leave in 10 minutes," Harry explains. "I can give you a lift, we can stop by mine and you can help me convince Louis that he wants to stay in on a Friday night and watch a movie, not that he'll need much convincing once he realises that Niall's there and then we can go to Niall's, unless you need to stop at yours for something?"

Liam just stares at him and Harry starts to fidget, wondering why Liam is staring at him. He doesn't think he's got anything on his face and he's pretty sure his offer is completely innocent, yet Liam is still staring at him.

"What?" Harry finally asks. "Have I got something on my face?"

Liam's stare turns into a frown. "No, of course not. Sorry. Did you just say ... does Louis like Niall?"

Harry's face falls and his eyes widen. He is so bad with secrets. "Uh, no?"

"Harry!"

"Uh ... yeah. But it's meant to be a secret because Louis hasn't ever, in seven years, ever admitted to liking someone before so I think he _really_ likes Niall and it's serious and he doesn't know if Niall likes him so Louis is kind of freaking out about it all and it's so weird to watch because Louis is normally so casual and confident about stuff like this," Harry babbles and eventually trails off, sending Liam a panicked look.

Liam laughs and reaches out with his good hand to rest it on Harry's arm, stroking it soothingly. Harry resists the inclination to move closer and rub against Liam, even though the urge is strong.

"Harry, relax, I won't say anything," Liam promises and Harry believes him because Liam tells the truth about everything. It's a trait Harry would find suspicious in anyone else. Not Liam. "But in the interest of complete honesty, I think it's only fair to tell you that Niall has the biggest crush on Louis."

Harry lets out a yell of delight and he throws his arms around Liam, hugging him tightly before he realises what he's doing and he freezes just as Liam's good arm comes round to hug him back. Harry just decides to go with it and snuggles closer for a second, drowning in pure bliss before schooling his face back into delight and moving back, feeling oddly bereft when Liam's arm falls away.

"Liam, that is the best news I've had all week," Harry says sincerely as he moves away. "Maybe all month. We have to push them together."

"Uh, is that a good idea?" Liam looks uncertain. "Shouldn't they just work things out themselves?"

Harry waves a hand at him as he moves towards his desk and starts tidying up his files. "If we leave it to Louis, he'll work himself into a state and start pushing Niall away to prove a point or something stupid and Niall will think Louis doesn't love him, even though he clearly does and it'll all end in disaster. Trust me, it's best for both of them if we intervene." Harry sees Liam's sceptical look and adds a caveat. "Only a little, I promise. Trust me, Liam, I know Louis. He needs this."

"Well, if you're sure and it's only a little bit of meddling," Liam says slowly. "For the greater good."

"I promise," Harry says and winks at Liam, who grins back.

It only takes Harry five minutes to get ready and he guides Liam out the door and out to his car.

If his hand rests on Liam's back a little longer than necessary, then Harry hardly thinks it's his fault since Liam doesn't move away.

It takes barely five minutes to convince Louis to come with them and Harry winks at Liam, who laughs and Harry gets that familiar warm feeling again.

They decide to walk to Niall's and Louis spends the whole journey trying to get Liam to talk about Niall. Liam, to Harry's amusement, decides to spend the whole journey being deliberately obtuse and not understanding Louis' questions at all.

When Louis asks Liam how he met Zayn and Niall, Liam launches into a five minute meandering speech about how Zayn's parents had been friends with Liam's parents since they were toddlers and they've always been inseparable. He doesn't mention Niall once and Harry watches Louis get more and more agitated and Liam carries on seemingly oblivious. When Liam turns slightly and winks at Harry, he has to somehow manage not to melt in a heap at Liam's feet because Harry is finding Liam's act ridiculously funny and the urge to throw his head back and laugh long and loud is almost unbearable.

They manage to arrive at Niall's without Liam sharing a single thing about Niall. When he throws open the door to them, Louis stalks past him and leaves Niall staring after him in confusion.

"What's up with him?" Niall asks as he turns back to Liam.

Chuckling, Liam shrugs and pats Niall on the back as he walks into the house. "Perhaps you should go ask him?"

"Liam Payne, you are an evil genius," Harry mutters to him in admiration as he passes them to sit with Zayn and start prodding and poking at him to distract him from his sketchbook.

"Harry, stop being a little shit," Zayn mutters as he shifts away from him.

Grinning, Harry pokes him one last time before turning around to see Liam talking quietly to Niall while Louis was nowhere to be seen.

From what Harry can see, Niall is shaking his head a lot and Liam seems to be reassuring him. Harry figures the conversation revolves around Louis, which is his cue to go find his heartsick buddy.

Harry moves past the hushed conversation and heads to the kitchen, where Louis is staring out of the window, a beer in hand.

"Hey," Harry says softly as he places a hand on Louis' shoulder.

He feels Louis sigh before he lifts his hand up to cover Harry's.

"You alright?"

"Not really," Louis mutters.

Harry says nothing as they stand there in the kitchen, looking out at Niall's back garden.

"I feel like a complete idiot," Louis says finally as he turns to look at Harry.

Harry smiles sympathetically at his oldest friend. He knows exactly how Louis is feeling, of course, but there is no way that he can confess to Louis. At least Niall likes Louis back, whether Louis knows it or not. And Louis has the added benefit of crushing on someone who likes boys. So Louis is, at the very least, not a complete idiot. Harry feels fully entitled to that particular title.

"Why don't you just kiss him? That usually works for you," Harry suggests.

"Because normally I don't care if they don't kiss me back," Louis sighs and he leans forward to place his head in the crook of Harry's neck. Out of familiarity and fondness, Harry starts to stroke Louis' hair soothingly.

"Oh, sorry ..."

Harry turns slightly and grins at Niall. "No worries. Louis was just being a big soppy idiot and I'm not helping in the slightest. Maybe you can sort him out?"

Harry steps away from Louis, ignoring his accusing glare and heads out of the kitchen, patting Niall on the arm as he passes him.

Harry shuts the door behind him carefully and steps into the living room. Zayn hasn't moved but is still doodling, while Liam is sitting in the armchair, flicking through the channels idly.

Harry figures he deserves a little reward for his good deed so he moves past Zayn and sits in front of Liam, on the floor. He shifts so that his back is resting against Liam's legs and sighs happily.

"You comfortable down there Harry?" Liam asks and Harry can hear the note of consternation in Liam's voice that makes Harry smile because Liam is always looking out for people.

"Yeah, actually," Harry says as he glances up over his shoulder to smile at Liam. "You don't mind do you?"

"No, course not," Liam says immediately, returning Harry's smile and ruffling his hair companionably. Harry wants to close his eyes and move his head to encourage Liam to keep his hand there but he doesn't, with some effort, and Liam's hand moves away.

Harry is still mourning it's loss when Niall and Louis enter the room. It takes Harry a second, but when he looks up, he can tell something has just happened between them. His eyes widen and he tries to catch Louis' eye but Louis is keeping his gaze vague and towards the television. They sit apart, Louis in the other chair opposite Liam's and Niall joins Zayn on the sofa, but Harry _knows_. He can tell because Louis and Niall are avoiding each other's gaze. He can tell because Louis is surprisingly quiet, which is unheard of in company. And most of all, he can tell because Louis' perfectly tousled hair, which he spends almost an hour on every day to get that just-out-of-bed-look, has almost certainly just had a pair of hands buried within it.

Harry grins to himself and can't resist shuffling back a bit further towards Liam.

After a bit of banter about which movie to play, Niall sets it up and they all sit back to watch. Harry isn't really playing attention to closely, mostly because he's lost in a daydream where he and Liam are frolicking on the beach together. Almost an hour has passed with Harry blissfully submerged in this daydream before he finally tunes back into reality. He gazes at the screen to see if he can follow the story but it's far too late to switch on. It's another ten minutes of complete boredom before he realises that Liam's hand is in Harry's hair.

It's another minute before Harry can completely verify that he's not lost in another daydream and Liam's hand really is threaded within his curls, moving in soft circles lazily and almost indolently. Every now and again, Liam's nails scratch against Harry's head and Harry has to bite back a moan each time. His body feels like he's on fire and he's not sure how long Liam's hand has been buried in his hair or why exactly it's placed there but he's cursing the stupid daydream that distracting him from this very real, very pleasant and very, very arousing experience.

It's another five minutes before Harry is starting to suspect that Liam is either trying to drive him crazy, or he doesn't actually realise that he is even running his fingers through Harry's hair.

Either way, Harry is having more fun not watching this stupid movie than he's had in a long time.

When the credits roll, Harry feels Liam's hand retreat and for the second time that night, he mourns the loss.

"Well, that was a wonderful waste of a precious Friday night," Louis says cheerfully, leaning forward to rest his elbows on his thighs. "What's the plan for the rest of the night or do I have to leave this desolate place to find fun elsewhere?"

"I'm pretty comfortable here," Harry says, and he doesn't just mean in Niall's flat.

"Me too," Liam chimes in. "Niall?"

"Tired," Niall murmurs from Zayn's shoulder where he's resting his head.

"Wow, you guys are crazy," Louis deadpans. "Well, I'm not going to sit around here when there are bars to visit, drinks to down and men to ... meet."

Harry spins round to look at Liam who's expression of alarm matches Harry's perfectly.

"Have fun," Niall waves in Louis' direction while he buries closer into Zayn.

"Uh, I'll come with you, Lou," Harry mutters as he scrambles to his feet.

"See you boys on Tuesday," Louis calls as he's practically out of the door already.

"Yeah, I'll see you later," Harry says as he looks around the room. Niall waves half-heartedly and Zayn grunts.

Liam jumps up and walks Harry to the door. "I'll see you on Tuesday for our next appointment, yeah?"

Harry vaguely remembers putting Liam's next appointment in his diary before they left his office today. "Yeah, we'll work on some more of those exercises and perhaps try to get a bit more flexibility."

"You're the best, Harry," Liam says eagerly and Harry can't help his fond smile in response.

"You have a one-track mind, Liam, and it's wasted on the gym," he teases.

Of course, Liam flushes. "Well, have fun with Louis. Try and keep him out of trouble, yeah?"

Harry rolls his eyes as he glances at Louis, who is impatiently waiting outside. "I'll try my best but when he's in this mood, he's completely unpredictable and impulsive."

"You can handle him though," Liam says confidently.

Harry grimaces. "I hope so. He's going to get antsy in a minute, so I'll see you later, yeah?"

"Yeah. Goodnight, Harry," Liam says before raising his voice a little and calling out goodnight to Louis, who waves back before yelling at Harry to hurry up.

Shooting an apologetic look at Liam, Harry trots towards Louis, slinging his arm around his shoulders and trying to steer him home. Surprisingly, Louis lets him.

"We're not really going out, are we?" Harry asks and he can hear the slight whine in his own voice that is completely unbecoming in a grown, professional man.

"Nah, but let those losers think we went out and had a great time," Louis says.

"When really we're going to go home, have a cup of tea and discuss what exactly went on between you and Niall in the kitchen earlier this evening?" Harry says, nudging Louis' hip with his own.

"Nothing went on," Louis frowns but he ruins it by grinning stupidly.

"Sure," Harry deadpans.

They walk for a while in silence.

"Maybe something went on," Louis admits and Harry rolls his eyes before grinning at Louis, who grins back. "Maybe Niall kind of kissed me and I might have snogged his face off before we stopped, stared at each other and then awkwardly sat in the same room for two hours not speaking or looking at each other. And then one of us bolted out of the house at the first opportunity and the other one didn't bat an eyelid. Maybe that went on."

"Snogged his face off?" Harry queries.

Louis grabs Harry in a headlock and ruffles his hair. "Yeah, snogged his face off. Did you hear anything else I said?"

Harry pulls free, frowning at Louis as he flips his hair back into place. "Something about being awkward, blah blah blah. He'll be in your bed by next week."

"God I hope so," Louis grins.

"So the kiss was that good then?"

Louis can't wipe the grin off his face, which is the only answer Harry needs.

They spend the rest of the weekend being as lazy as possible, ordering takeaways and playing non-stop FIFA and Grand Theft Auto, with Louis doing the Starbucks runs and Harry screening their calls until it gets to Sunday night and they realise they haven't spoken to another soul, except for the barista at Starbucks, for 48 hours. When Louis checks his phone, he can't stop grinning at the three missed calls from Niall and two texts, casually asking what Louis is up to. When Harry looks at his phone, he has no missed calls, two texts from Zayn, each pretty abusive, a text from Niall, sent twenty minutes after the last one he sent to Louis, and, well, that's it. Nothing from Liam.

Harry's disappointed, although there is no reason in the world whatsoever why Liam would call or text him. They're barely friends - they've gone out for drinks once and watched a movie together once and had two work appointments. That's the extent of their interaction, which surprises Harry when he thinks about it because he feels like he's had a crush on Liam forever and he can't really remember a time when he didn't want to latch his mouth onto Liam's and rut against him until they both come, weak and satiated.

So really, there's no reason for Harry to feel depressed and lonely, but since he is, he goes to bed early and leaves Louis to re-read his texts from Niall for the millionth time.

Just as he climbs into bed and looks forward to a completely frustrating sex dream filled with gorgeous brown eyes and broad shoulders, his phone buzzes.

Liam's name pops up.

**Niall hasn't stoped talkin bout Louis alllllll weekend! thnk sumthin went on! hes been worryin about Lou goin out and pullin on friday! xx**

Harry re-reads the text several times before he puts the phone down in his lap and frowns. If he didn't know any better, he'd think Liam was trying to find out if Harry went home with anyone over the weekend, but that's ridiculous.

Deciding that now Louis knows Niall likes him, because it's pretty obvious to anyone with half a brain by now, Harry's loyalty has to lie with Louis, he texts Liam, rewording the text several times before he's happy with it.

**Haha, you must be pretty bored then. If Niall's worried, tell him he should make a move before it's too late! .xx**

He waits for a few minutes but his phone remains silent.

Settling down, he closes his eyes and amuses himself by thinking about a jealous Liam storming over in the middle of the night to have angry sex with Harry. He falls asleep very quickly.

When Harry drags himself home after a long day at work, it's to find Louis pacing the living room floor. He practically launches himself at Harry, pulling him towards the sofa and glaring at him.

"What?" Harry asks, bemused.

"I've had some very interesting texts from Niall," Louis says slowly.

"Oh really?" Harry is only half-interested because most of his thoughts are on dinner and falling asleep.

"His first text said that we should just forget about Friday night, he didn't know what came over him and we should just be friends," Louis rolls his eyes and Harry frowns. "I ignored him. Then two hours of silence later, he texts me to say, and I quote, "Unless you don't want to forget about it, then maybe we should talk." Which I ignore again, because seriously, he's the cutest. Then twenty minutes ago, he sent me a text asking me to come for dinner tonight. Just the two of us. On a date."

"A real date?" Harry asks.

"He says to dress up smart," Louis huffs and it's clear he's taken offence because according to Louis, he's always dressed smart.

Harry just thinks Niall is being incredibly adorable and he reassesses his prediction of Niall being in Louis' bed from the end of the week to tonight.

"This is what you want, right?" Harry has to ask because Louis does not look like the cat that got the cream, which is exactly how Harry thought he would look, right about now.

"Of course it's what I want," Louis exclaims and Harry sits back, waiting for the explosion. "But now I'm bloody nervous and I don't know how to act around him and what if he's asking me out on a date to circle back to his first text to say that we should just be friends?"

Harry is pretty sure that's not going to happen. "Why don't you text him and ask if he plans to coming back here tonight because if so, you have to tidy up?"

"That, Harry, is either the stupidest thing you've ever said, or it's bloody genius," Louis remarks with a thoughtful frown. "I'm veering towards genius."

"Just brazen it out," Harry suggests. "It's what you do best."

"I'm going to do it," Louis says firmly, grabbing his phone and sending his fingers flying over the buttons. He's pressed send before he can second-guess himself and they both sit back on the sofa, staring at Louis' phone, waiting for it to light up.

It takes a whole thirty seconds. Louis grabs for it as Harry grins, confident of Niall's answer.

"He's suggesting we just skip dinner and he comes over here now," Louis says, laughing loudly. "Fuck, I like him."

Harry sorrowfully thinks about the dinner he was looking forward to and an early night, before he dutifully offers to leave the house for a few hours. Louis hugs him and Harry disappears to change into something more casual and heads out, yelling good luck to Louis and warning him that he's coming home in two hours.

Louis yells out a thank you and Harry is heading out with nowhere to go, pulling out his phone and scrolling through his numbers.

He knows before he even gets to his name that he's going to call Liam, who answers on the second ring.

"Hey Harry!"

God, how does he manage to sound like he's been sitting around just waiting for Harry to call?

"Hey Liam," Harry murmurs. "Uh, fancy a pint?"

"Yeah, I'd love to! Hang on," Liam's voice disappears and he can hear a muffled conversation in the background. "Where and when?"

Harry suggests their usual place and tells him that he's on his way now as he's had to unexpectedly vacate his house for a few hours.

"Would that have anything to do with Niall running out of here two minutes ago with one shoe on and his shirt half on?" Liam's laughing and Harry can't resist a chuckle at the thought of Niall racing round to Louis'.

"Yeah, probably," Harry admits. "So can you come now?"

"Yeah, I'll just leave now," Liam says. "Zayn says he's too tired to come, so is it okay if it's just me?"

"Yeah, it's a real hardship spending time with just you," Harry injects enough sarcasm into his voice to let Liam know he's teasing when really he can't think of a better way to spend an evening. Except he can, but it involves Liam being naked and Harry being really busy, but since that's out of the question, a night out with just Liam and alcohol is pretty much perfect.

Liam laughs and Harry grins. "I'll be there in ten minutes."

"I'll get the first round in," Harry promises before he hangs up and he lets out a little whoop of excitement.

He's sitting with two pints in front of him when he sees Liam walk in and Harry thinks he might just pass out because Liam is wearing those skinny jeans that drive Harry crazy because he can see Liam's boxers over the top of them and a snug-fitting top that clings to Liam's biceps. Harry's not sure how anyone manages to see Liam and not jump his bones, because he certainly has to control himself each time. When Liam bounds over to him, Harry looks up and is surprised when Liam leans in to hug him in greeting. It's all too fleeting, the feeling of being pressed up against Liam's chest and he feels bereft when Liam takes a seat opposite him.

"So I guess the plan worked then," Liam says happily and raises his pint to clink Harry's.

"It helps that they're both besotted with each other," Harry says and tries to keep any bitterness over his own tragic feelings inside.

"I've never seen Niall move so fast," Liam laughs as he leans in and rests his arms on the table.

"I just hope they tire each other out before I get home," Harry shudders as he takes a sip of his pint.

"How long did you give them?"

"Two hours," Harry grins.

"That's not very generous," Liam mock-frowns. "If that was me, I'd want at least the whole night. And maybe a week, if possible."

Harry's eyebrows raise and he's experiencing very dirty thoughts about what Liam would do in a week in bed. "Wow, your girlfriends are lucky girls. A whole week?"

Liam laughs but he's looking a bit puzzled as well. "Uh, well, I - Harry, you know I like boys, don't you?"

Harry's face freezes and he knows he should look away from Liam right now, but he can't. He's staring at Liam and all he can think about is grabbing his face and planting a kiss on his beautiful lips.

"Harry?" Liam tries again and Harry shakes his head, clearing his thoughts and congratulating himself on probably completely weirding Liam out with his odd behaviour.

"Uh, actually no?" Harry says almost as a question. "No one ever mentioned it."

"Oh," Liam's face is pulling itself into a frown and Harry can't think of a single thing to say. "But I guess the more important question is what kind of relationships have you been in that you haven't spent the first week entirely in bed?"

Harry flushes and he looks away, finally. "Uh, I'm actually not very good with relationships," he confesses and a quick look at Liam reveals his shock. "Yeah. I'm really, really bad with them so I usually just avoid them. At all costs."

"When was your last relationship Harry?" Liam asks.

"About three years ago," he admits and he can see Liam's shock.

"Three years?"

"Yeah," Harry can feel himself starting to get defensive and he tells himself to chill out. "Liam, I'm not lying, I'm _really_ bad at relationships. I forget anniversaries, I forget to call when I'm going to be late, I'm really bad at meeting friends and family to the point where I just embarrass everyone involved and I'm really bad at the whole talking and sharing thing."

Liam just sits back and stares at him.

Harry is starting to feel really self-conscious when Liam suddenly moves forward and grabs Harry's hands.

"Harry, did you and Louis actually go out on Friday?"

Harry blinks slowly and he's trying to figure out how Liam jumped around to that particular thought. "Uh, no?"

Liam's face creases into a grin. "Thought not."

"Louis just said it to get a reaction from Niall and I agreed to go along with it," Harry explains. He's trying to pretend that Liam's hands around his own isn't playing havoc with his heart rate.

Liam doesn't let go of Harry's hands until he gets up to get the next round. When he sits back down, he chooses the seat next to Harry, who immediately gets flustered because it means his leg is constantly brushing up against Liam's and their arms are practically glued together. But Liam doesn't grab his hands again and they spend the rest of the evening talking about their jobs, Zayn's new girlfriend who Harry hasn't met yet, how they think Louis and Niall are going to ridiculously cute together and of course Liam's next session, scheduled for the morning.

When they leave, and Harry's given the boys three whole hours together because he really doesn't want to end the evening with Liam before he has to, Harry realises that Liam intends to walk him home, which he finds unbearably sweet.

"I just want to poke my head in and wish them good luck," Liam promises as they reach Harry's door.

"You mean fuck with them, right?" Harry says with a grin.

Liam says nothing but he mirrors Harry's grin and they walk inside. It's dark, so Harry flicks on the lights and they pause to check if they can hear them. Nothing.

Harry moves towards Louis' door and knocks lightly.

"Fuck off, Harry," Louis calls out and his voice is soft and sleepy. Louis' after-sex voice.

"Just wanted to make sure you're okay, honey," Harry calls and Liam stifles a giggle.

"Is that Liam?" Niall's voice sounds thicker and his accent stronger. Harry files that away as Niall's after-sex voice, for future reference.

"Just wanted to make sure you're okay, honey," Liam echoes Harry and this time Harry laughs.

"Fuck off," Niall and Louis call out in unison and they can hear them laughing together.

"Seems like they had a good night," Harry says as he follows Liam back to the front door.

"They're not the only ones," Liam says and Harry thinks he's just the sweetest person in the whole world. "I like hanging out with you, Harry."

"Then aren't you lucky to spend a whole other hour with me tomorrow?" Harry teases, even though he's pretty sure he's the lucky one.

"Can't wait," Liam grins. "You want to grab lunch after my appointment?"

"Are you sure you can spare the time?" Harry asks and then considers slapping himself in the head because why would Liam offer if he couldn't spare the time?

"I've got the whole afternoon free," Liam says with a cheerful smile. "I'm free as a bird."

"Then I'd love to," Harry beams and shuts the door quickly before he does slap himself on the head.

As Harry gets ready for bed, he supposes that finding out Liam likes boys is actually worse than Liam being straight. When he thought Liam liked girls, Harry accepted that he didn't have a shot with him. Now that he knows Liam likes boys and hasn't even idly flirted with him, it's actually more painful. Not even a little flirting. No winks, no suggestive comments, no little touches or lingering stares. Nothing. Zilch. Nada.

Harry closes his eyes and thinks about Liam bursting into his office and declaring his love, after weeks of painfully keeping everything locked up inside before they have loud sex on Harry's desk. Harry falls asleep with a smile on his face.

When Liam walks into Harry's office ready for his appointment, Harry has to stop his mouth from falling open. Liam hasn't bothered with a shirt today and is just wearing a tank top with jeans and Harry doesn't know how, but it looks like Liam's biceps are even more toned today.

"Hey Harry," Liam says brightly and sits down, looking at Harry expectantly.

"Hi Liam," Harry says formally and it's his vain attempt to keep things professional, at least in Harry's office. "I'm going to run through your exercises and then try a few new ones if we have time, if that's okay."

"Sounds great Harry," Liam nods readily.

Harry grabs the heat pack he has to hand and steps around to place it on Liam's shoulder. He almost jumps out of his skin when he hears Liam moan softly.

"Sorry, it just feels nice," Liam apologises and Harry shrugs it off.

After a few minutes, Harry removes the heat and massages Liam's shoulder a little to loosen it up. Liam lets out another groan and this time Harry feels himself react to the sound. He feels the goosebumps on his arms and the slight increase in his pulse. Mostly though he can feel his jeans are a bit tighter than they should be and Harry tries to think boring thoughts, unsexy thoughts, anything to stop him getting an erection from a few of Liam's moans. Harry knows he's going to be thinking about those sounds when he climbs into bed tonight for another frustrating night of unfulfilled dreams.

Harry waits until he has himself under control and moves to take the sling from Liam, smiling in what he hopes is his professional manner and drops the sling on his desk. He starts to move Liam's arm around. When he stretches it a bit further, Liam lets out a little grunt. Trying to ignore it, Harry continues, alternating between stretching Liam's shoulder and massaging it. Liam's eyes close after a few minutes so Harry is free to stare at him, but he's completely distracted by little moans and grunts Liam makes.

He talks Liam through a new stretch. When Liam completes it correctly, he beams up at Harry. "You're the best, Harry."

Harry just nods and carries on.

After forty minutes of moans, groans and grunts, not to mention Liam's nonstop compliments of "That feels so good, Harry," and "Oh yeah, right there," and "Oh yeah, that's amazing Harry," Harry feels dirty and in need of a shower. And a good wank.

He almost throws Liam's sling at him and excuses himself where he runs into the toilets and fumbles around in desperation, finally getting a hand on himself and relieving the pent up sexual fever Liam's just aroused in him.

Slightly embarrassed, Harry makes his way back into his office to find Liam waiting for him, a happy smile on his beautiful face and Harry almost gives in to the need to run back and sort himself out again, but he manages to find some semblance of control.

They head out for lunch and it's like the previous hour hasn't just happened, like Liam hasn't just spent an entire session making sex noises to give Harry a raging erection that he needed to fix before he could manage a sensible conversation.

Harry is seriously starting to doubt his own sanity.

Except that it happens again, for the next three sessions. Liam gets more and more vocal and Harry has to flee to the loos to wank himself off before he can face Liam afterwards. Then they go to lunch and share ham sandwiches and chocolate brownies.

Harry has cried off meeting up with the rest of the lads because he's not sure he can keep a hold on his control around Liam anymore. He's already half-crazed with desire and since he can't get out of their physio sessions, he's trying anxiously trying to limit the time he spends with Liam outside of work.

At the start of their fourth week together, Harry tells Liam that he's doing really well and if he looks after himself, he might be able to start training again in two weeks, a fortnight ahead of schedule.

Harry's expecting Liam to jump with joy, so when he's met with a sad expression, Harry's confused.

"Oh no, I'm happy," Liam assures him, his words sounding a little drawn out. "I'm just worried about putting too much strain on my shoulder and harming my recovery. Perhaps I should wait for the whole two months."

Harry just shrugs and reaches for Liam's shoulder, preparing himself for the moans he knows are coming.

Halfway through the session, when Harry is half-hard and praying for lunchtime to speed up, he moves in front of Liam and asks Liam to place his left hand on Harry's right shoulder. It's an exercise they've done before so Harry expects Liam to keep his eyes shut, as he usually does. Liam pushes against Harry but Harry is slightly distracted so when Liam's other hand reaches up to grab Harry's left arm, Harry jumps slightly and looks up to find Liam watching him with a little smile.

Harry manages a shaky smile in response and he hopes that Liam doesn't look too closely in Harry's direction because his erection is almost blatant at this point.

Liam's hand strokes Harry's arm gently and Harry groans silently. He still can't figure out if Liam has any idea of what he's doing to Harry, but right at this moment, he's making Harry frantic with longing.

So of course it takes Harry completely by surprise when Liam shifts his weight and releases his push on Harry, causing Harry to fall forward and he swears he sees Liam grin before Harry finds himself kissing Liam.

He's not sure if he's kissing Liam or Liam is kissing him, but all he does know is that Liam's lips are pressing against his and they aren't moving back. It's all the incentive Harry needs, especially as he's worked up already from Liam's sex noises and general closeness. Harry presses closer and starts to move his lips, feeling Liam shift beneath him so that Harry can straddle Liam and wrap his arms around him. Liam's arms encircle Harry and they start rocking slowly together as their tongues lick into each other's mouths. It takes Harry a second to realise that Liam is just as hard as he is and it causes his brain to short-circuit.

All thoughts he should be holding onto go out the window, like how he's at work and in his office and Liam is a patient, not to mention a friend, and he's got a waiting room outside that yes, is probably empty as it's almost lunchtime and his next appointment is at 2pm but still.

He's been going slowly crazy for Liam and now he has him underneath him, Harry's hands tangled in Liam's soft, short hair, his lips moulded to Harry's and his hard body pressed against Harry, he can't hold back.

Liam's hands are stroking Harry's back and he's a little ticklish so each time Liam touches a sensitive area, Harry lurches forward and Liam seems to find this both amusing and a turn-on as he keeps doing it. Harry's too busy kissing Liam's pretty lips to care though and he starts to grind down, trying to find some friction for his aching cock.

He's almost certain that it's going to take all of five seconds before Harry comes because he's so worked up, has been for weeks, and he hasn't had anyone else's hands on him for months now.

Refusing to open his eyes for fear of catching Liam's gaze and it causing them to stop, Harry runs his hand down Liam's chest, something he's been wanting to do since the moment they met and it's worth the wait to feel Liam's muscles ripple gently under Harry's hand, and he reaches Liam's belt. He starts to unbuckle him until Liam's hand stops him. Keeping his eyes closed, Harry lets out a very unprofessional whine of disapproval and tries to move Liam's hand to carry on but Liam's hold is firm.

Finally, out of frustration Harry opens his eyes and finds Liam staring at him.

"Move your hand," Harry mutters, his voice utterly wrecked and frantic.

Liam sighs and moves his hand to give Harry access and he carries on, but he's distracted by Liam's sigh.

There is no way that Harry is back down now, not now that he knows how beautifully Liam kisses and how hard Liam is for Harry, so as he slides his hand into Liam's boxers and grabs his cock, Harry leans forward and places a wet, sloppy kiss on Liam's lips and asks the question he's dreading the answer to.

He squeezes Liam's cock first, revelling in its length and eager to bring Liam some relief but he locks eyes with Liam first. "You okay, Li?"

It's the first time he's ever used that nickname and Liam's eyes widen. Then he nods and Harry watches the smile he loves so much break out and it's all Harry needs to continue. He strokes Liam gently at first, watching as Liam's body stiffens slightly and his breath gets shorter. Harry starts to increase his speed and moves up and down Liam's cock harder and harder, pausing every now and again to massage Liam's balls and grinning when Liam's breath hitches each time. When he feels Liam is about to come, he rubs his thumb over Liam's slit and feels the precome slick his hand slightly, enabling him to jerk Liam a little harder and a little slicker. Liam's pupils blow wide and Harry feels Liam's body jerk as he comes over Harry's hand and he continues to stroke him gently, feeling Liam's head slump onto Harry's shoulder. When the tremors have passed, Harry slides his cheek against Liam's, waiting for him to lift his head. When he does, Harry searches his eyes for panic or anger, but there's none.

Instead, Liam's gaze is gentle and appreciative and serene. He presses a quick kiss to Harry's lips before pushing him so that Harry is standing up. Confused, Harry starts to move towards his chair, wondering if Liam is sorry about the whole thing when Liam's hands on his hips stop him. Liam's shaking his head with a grin and forcing Harry to stand still, back against his desk. Liam drops to his knees and Harry's head lolls back as he realises what Liam intends to do. He hears his zipper lower and when Liam's hand closes around his cock, Harry shivers and lets out a loud moan that he doesn't even try to cover up.

Then Harry feels Liam's mouth around him and he loses all train of thought. All he can think about is Liam's tongue circling him, sucking and blowing and fuck he can feel the back of Liam's throat. His hands sink into Liam's hair for balance and when Liam groans in pleasure, Harry can feel it around his cock and it almost sets him off. Trying to hold on because the pleasure is immense, Liam reaches up to cup his balls and it's all Harry needs before he's coming down Liam's throat, gasping through his orgasm and trying to stay upright when all he wants to do is fall to the floor and curl up with Liam forever.

Liam's hands keep him upright though and Harry vaguely feels Liam pull off and re-dress him. He must pull his own clothing back together because the next thing Harry knows, he's fully dressed staring at Liam, also fully dressed who's looking a bit sheepish and fuck knows why because Harry can't form a coherent thought right now.

"Uh, I can't make lunch today Harry," Liam says and Harry blinks several times because that's the last thing he thought Liam would say. He was thinking that Liam would want to talk about the fact that Harry's cock has just been down Liam's throat and Liam has just ejaculated over Harry's hand, but no, Liam wants to change lunch plans.

"Okay," Harry says slowly and he's pretty sure it's all he can manage at this point in time.

"I'll see you on Thursday, same time?" Liam asks as he puts his sling back in place.

"Yeah, same time," Harry mumbles and he leans back against the desk, not sure his legs can hold him up anymore.

"Bye Harry," Liam murmurs and he's gone.

"Bye Liam," Harry whispers, utterly confused.

He doesn't mention it to Louis, mostly because Louis is completely engrossed in Niall and Harry hasn't really seen Louis without Niall since they got together, but also because he wouldn't even know what to say. Harry's not entirely sure he knows what happened in his office because it almost seems like a dream - and Harry's had some very vivid dreams involving Liam. He got through the rest of the day somehow by sheer grit and then locked himself in his room when he got home, staring at his phone, almost willing it to ring or beep with a text from Liam, but it stays stubbornly silent and Harry drifts off into a dreamless sleep.

He spends the next day trying to reason through what happened. Perhaps it was just a case of Liam being sexually frustrated and Harry was there. Perhaps Liam was just curious about Harry, in which case Harry hopes he delivered, seeing as he'd just been through a long, dry spell. Perhaps it was all a big misunderstanding and Liam hadn't meant to kiss Harry at all but couldn't say no once Harry kissed him back. Harry was most afraid of that scenario only because it seemed so very like Liam.

By the time Liam's next appointment rolled around, Harry is a nervous wreck. He's trying to write some notes when Liam's knock announces him and Harry takes a second before looking up, fixing his professional smile on his face. Liam looks the same as always, which is to say gorgeous and fit, and he takes his seat like normal, as if he hadn't been in this very office, sucking Harry's cock not two days earlier. Harry puts down his pen and figures that he's happy to play this Liam's way, which seems to be to pretend it never happened.

"How's the shoulder?" Harry asks and if his voice sounds slightly shaky, that wasn't exactly something he could control.

"It's been a little achy," Liam admits and Harry thinks his voice sounds a little huskier.

"We'll take it a little slower today then," Harry says brightly and he picks up his heat pad while Liam slips off his sling and places it on Liam's shoulder. This time, Liam doesn't moan but he does lean back slightly to rest his back against Harry's stomach.

Harry's grown so used to Liam's noises that he finds it more awkward now that Liam's silent. He drops the heat pad and starts to massage Liam's shoulder, trying not to focus on Liam's muscles and the feel of his smooth skin under his moving fingers.

Then it happens. A moan slips out of Liam's mouth and Harry freezes for a second. Even Liam seems to pause before Harry carries on as if nothing has happened. Harry works methodically through Liam's routine exercise and Liam keeps his eyes closed. Little moans and grunts escape Liam's lips but they get through the session without any other episodes.

Harry passes Liam's sling to him after the last exercise but before Liam slips it on, as he stands up, he reaches out and grabs Harry around the neck, yanking Harry forward and fastening his lips onto Harry's.

Harry feels all the tension he's been feeling for the past two days slip away and he sighs into Liam's mouth, bringing his arms up and wrap around Liam and settle into the kiss. Liam's licking at Harry's mouth and he opens up, letting Liam move closer and this time round, it's softer, calming. Liam is stroking Harry's back soothingly and Harry is learning the feel of Liam's back in a very unprofessional way.

When Liam reaches down to cup Harry, Harry melts into Liam and lets his head drop to Liam's strong, good shoulder. Liam builds up the tension in Harry slowly, massaging and caressing, slipping his hand into Harry's jeans and when he finally closes his hand around Harry, he jerks twice and Harry comes and Harry thinks it's beautiful. When Liam moves his hand away and brings it to his lips to lick clean, Harry watches with curious eyes, smiling when Liam meets his gaze.

Harry leans forward, capturing Liam's lips and kisses him slowly, tasting himself on Liam and he moans, unable to stop himself. When he drops to his knees in front of Liam, he grasps Liam's hips firmly and takes him fully in, letting Liam's cock slip down his throat and he hears Liam's gasp before Liam starts to move slowly, fucking into Harry's mouth carefully until Harry's grip on Liam's hips tightens and Liam pauses, letting Harry's clever tongue finish him off until he releases and Harry sucks him dry.

This time, Harry dresses Liam, who is still trying to catch his breath and now that Harry is the one in control, he's determined to stop Liam from running away again. Twice now, Liam's initiated this and Harry is not going to let him run away again.

He pulls Liam close and they stand together, Harry cuddling up to Liam while Liam tries to recover.

"I've got to go," Liam whispers finally.

Harry glances at the clock on his wall to see that it's almost time for his next patient. He moves back but holds Liam's gaze firmly.

"I'll see you, yeah?" Liam says and Harry nods, reaching out to squeeze Liam's hand that isn't in his sling. Liam squeezes back, which Harry thinks is progress, before he leaves and Harry tries to compose himself before his next session. He hasn't got time to figure out what's going on between him and Liam, but at least this time Liam didn't run away.

Harry figures they need to talk but he'll worry about it later, when he doesn't have a patient waiting.

Harry crawls home, exhausted and isn't surprised to find Louis not home. There's a note in the kitchen to say that he's staying at Niall's so Harry digs out the leftovers from yesterdays takeaway and sits in front of the television, eating absently, his mind on Liam.

So when the doorbell goes and Harry is half-expecting it to be Liam, he's still surprised to see him.

Liam's smile is a little bashful but Harry thinks it's the most adorable Liam has ever looked. He gestures inside and takes his plate to the kitchen, dumping everything in the dishwasher before turning around to find Liam crowding against him and kissing him and Harry leans into him, losing himself once again in Liam. He can't think when Liam's kissing him and he knows they need to talk, but he can't find the words because all he wants to do is grind against him and find some release from this aching need inside.

It's not until much later, when Harry is staring up at his bedroom ceiling, Liam fast asleep next to him with an arm slung across Harry's chest and completely satiated from a hand job and another orgasm that took them both by surprise when Harry was rubbing against Liam while giving him a hand job in return, that Harry remembers the conversation they once had about spending the first week of a relationship in bed.

Not that this is a relationship. He's not entirely sure what this is, but they haven't even talked. Not that Harry's complaining about anything, because Liam's hands and mouth are very skilled and Harry is very satisfied, but he's also very confused by the whole situation.

He finally drops off to sleep, curling himself around Liam and sighing happily when Liam wraps an arm around him and pulls him close in his sleep.

Two weeks later, Harry and Liam still haven't talked. They discuss Liam's injury in session but as soon as Harry finishes the last exercise, Liam is reaching for Harry who is crowding closer to Liam and they're making out, grinding against each other. More often than not, Liam appears at Harry's door, but only on nights when Louis is staying at Niall's, and they don't talk there either.

Harry's looking forward to going home after a long week and hoping for a knock on his front door when his phone buzzes.

"Niall!" Harry says happily. "So you do live!"

"You're one to talk," Niall returns and Harry can hear the smile in his voice. "Everyone's coming to mine tonight. Bring beer."

Harry tries to fight back the disappointment in seeing his evening plans disappear but at least Liam will be there. Although what's going to happen with everyone else there, Harry can't even guess.

"What time?"

"Now. Go home and change and come straight over," Niall orders and Harry laughs, agreeing before he puts down the phone.

He clears up for the night and heads home, changing into his black skinny jeans and a loose white t-shirt before grabbing his phone, keys and a six-pack from the kitchen and walks over to Niall's.

When Niall opens the door and engulfs Harry in a big hug, Harry sighs and sinks into Niall's arms, realising that he's missed this. He's missed them. He ruffles Niall's hair, laughing when Niall pulls away and feigns annoyance. He lays a smacking kiss on Louis as he passes him, chuckling when Louis pretends to faint and Niall catches him before dropping the beer in the kitchen, wrapping his arm around Zayn who is rummaging in the fridge for a beer and is overly enthusiastic to see Harry but he suspects it's more for the beer he's carrying.

"Missed you," Zayn murmurs and okay, maybe it's not entirely the beer.

Harry finally enters the living room and sees Liam sitting in the same chair he was sitting in last time they were here. Louis and Niall are snuggled up on the sofa, being disgustingly cute and Zayn flops down on the other chair. Harry asks Liam a silent question with his eyes and Liam unobtrusively pats his leg, which Harry takes as an invitation. He drops to the floor in front of Liam, as he did before but Liam spreads his legs this time so that Harry is snuggled between him and Harry rests his head against Liam's knee.

"It's been far too long since we did this," Niall says, snuggling closer to Louis who reaches over to run his hands through his hair.

"It's not our fault you've been disgustingly coupled up since last time," Zayn murmurs, teasingly.

"Hey, Harry's been AWOL as well," Louis points out, blowing a kiss at Harry.

"Busy," is all Harry says. "Missed you guys though."

"Except Liam, right?" Louis says and both Harry and Liam freeze.

"Huh?" Harry frowns, trying to figure out if Louis has somehow stumbled across them at home.

"Physio, right?" Louis stares at Harry, his brow knitting.

"Oh yeah," Harry says with relief. "That hardly counts though."

"Yeah, no time to talk during physio," Niall agrees.

And it's not nearly as hard as Harry thought it was going to be, not while he's pressed up against Liam and he can stroke his fingers up and down Liam's calf without anyone seeing. When Niall puts on a movie and they're all on their fourth beer and the lights go out, Harry feels Liam's hand in his hair and this time he lets his head fall back in contentment and he has to stifle the moan of pleasure that wants to escape. This time, Liam knows that Harry likes feeling his fingers scraping against his scalp so he does it again and again. He also knows Harry likes it when Liam tugs his hair, especially when Harry is sucking Liam's cock and Liam's about to come. So every now and again, Liam tugs and Harry has to bite his lip because he's getting hard and now is not the time.

By the time the movie ends, Harry is desperate for Liam and he turns to see the same look on Liam's face. Zayn has fallen asleep and Niall and Louis have been making out for the past twenty minutes so Harry mutters his goodbyes and waits for Liam to do the same before they leave together and they barely turn the corner before Harry is pushing Liam against a wall and kissing him senseless. Liam returns the kiss, his hands racing over Harry's back and lifting his shirt slightly so he can touch skin. Harry drops his head to kiss Liam's collarbone and before Liam can stop him, Harry is sucking on Liam's skin and leaving a love bite that, far from being outraged, Liam seems to enjoy which turns Harry on even more.

With a groan, Harry grabs Liam's hand and drags him towards Harry's home, ignoring Liam's chuckles as Harry stumbles and almost gets run over in his eagerness to get home.

While Harry is trying to open his front door, Liam has his hands on Harry's stomach and he's kissing Harry's neck, completely distracting him. With a groan, Harry keeps trying to open the door and when it finally gives way, Harry shoves Liam inside and they somehow make their way into Harry's room.

Two hours of foreplay have them both on the brink already and Harry yanks down Liam's jeans before pulling his own off and he's pulling Liam's top over his head and doing the same for himself. Liam reaches out and grabs Harry's hard cock while Harry does the same and they're jerking each other off in unison, Harry trying to capture Liam's mouth and sharing sloppy kisses before they're both coming, almost in sync and Harry can't even think he's so wrecked.

Harry knows Liam will be asleep in two minutes if he doesn't say something now, so he rolls over and half on top of Liam and taps him on the forehead. Liam's eyes open in surprise because they don't normally talk. That's not what they do.

"Hey," Harry says with a charming smile.

Liam can't help but smile back. "Hey."

"So," Harry pauses, unsure of how to continue. "Should we talk about this or ...?"

"Um, if you want to," Liam says slowly, his voice still thick with arousal.

"It just seems like when two people can't keep their hands off each other," Harry watches Liam grin, "that they should talk about it or something."

"Okay, I'm listening," Liam says sincerely and Harry smiles dopily.

"So are we like, dating or something?" Harry asks the question he's been dying to ask.

"Do you want to be dating?" Liam counters and it seems to Harry that Liam is looking at him more intensely than usual.

"I ..." Harry takes a deep breath and decides to just go for it. He wants to date Liam, he wants that more than anything, so he opens himself up. "Yes. Yes, I want to date you."

"Okay," Liam says easily and Harry just blinks up at him.

"Okay?" Harry parrots in confusion.

"Okay, we're dating," Liam repeats, cocking his head to one side and reaching up to stroke Harry's cheek. It distracts Harry for a minute because it feels so nice and all Harry can do is grin stupidly at Liam.

"So do we tell people?"

"Do you want to tell people?" Liam asks and Harry is starting to find this whole conversation odd.

"Of course I want to tell people," Harry frowns. "Liam, what's going on?"

Liam tries to look innocent but Harry can see straight through him. It's one of the things he likes best about Liam, his complete inability to lie.

"I just ..." Liam sighs as he gathers Harry closer and Harry grins because he can't help himself. "Do you remember when we went to the bar, just the two of us, and I told you I liked men?"

"Yeah," Harry sighs happily. "That was when I first thought I might have a chance with you. Except at the time I was mostly annoyed because you hadn't even flirted once with me while I was spinning daydreams about frolicking on the beach with you or you pining me up against a wall somewhere and kissing me senseless."

Liam just stares at Harry, who grins back at him. "Too much too soon, huh?"

"We are definitely going to discuss this later," Liam promises, reaching up to kiss Harry hard and fast. "Anyway, that night you told me that you were rubbish at relationships, at communication and meeting family and calling when you're going to be late."

"I remember," Harry says slowly and things are starting to click in his head.

"Well, I thought I'd make it easier on you by kind of skipping those parts?" Liam says with a sweet little smile and Harry can't help but lean down and kiss that smile.

"You're so adorable, do you know that?" Harry asks and he grins as Liam flushes. "It's completely irresistible. Did you think about telling me that we were in a relationship? I thought you were just using me for sex."

"As if," Liam chuckles happily. "I figured when you were ready to talk about it, you would and here you are."

"You're pretty smart, Li," Harry says, snuggling up to Liam's chest and relishing the fact that he's been in a pretty great relationship for weeks now and it's not falling apart, unlike his previous ones. "How'd I get such a clever boyfriend?"

Liam preens at the title and Harry laughs blissfully. "So when did you decide on your devious plan to entangle me?"

"The second I met you," Liam confesses. "I opened the door and felt like I'd been hit by a sledgehammer. But all I heard was that you didn't date patients so I thought I'd wait until I finished therapy and then, I don't know, figure out a way to get you into bed or something."

"Turns out I'm pretty easy when it comes to you," Harry says as Liam's hand starts to stroke his back. "I felt the same way. I started weaving daydreams about you during our first session. It felt like an obsession and I thought I was going to explode because I was under the impression you were straight and I was slowly going insane."

"You're an idiot," Liam says fondly. "I was going crazy as well, every time you touched me in therapy I thought I'd die from wanting you. So I figured I'd see if I could drive you crazy as well."

"Fuck Liam, those noises," Harry laughs breathlessly. "I had to run to the bathroom after each session and have a wank, I was rock hard."

Liam's eyes widen before he starts laughing hard. "I had no idea!"

"Are you kidding?" Harry rolls his eyes. "Moaning, telling me it felt good, grunting, it drove me crazy. The only thing that saved me was you keeping your eyes closed."

"Until I drove myself crazy enough to just go for it and then, well, you know," Liam says with a happy smile.

"Yeah, I know," Harry says happily, reaching up for a sloppy kiss.

 

**Six months later**

Harry is sitting on Liam's lap, idly running his hand over Liam's hair while Louis and Niall argue over what takeaway to get.

"Get both," is Zayn's solution and it's one Niall and Louis can agree on. It's amazing how much they like to argue, especially since they moved in together six weeks ago.

"So, you've met my parents and it didn't go horribly wrong," Liam says softly so that just Harry can hear him.

"Your parents are amazingly good-natured and laidback," is Harry's wry response.

"They loved you," Liam argues, letting his fingers tickle Harry slightly to make him wriggle in Liam's lap.

"Did you have a point?" Harry sighs as he snuggles closer. He's always trying to get closer.

"You also call me every day to let me know what time you'll be home for dinner," Liam says and Harry frowns.

"Well yeah."

"So it seems like you're pretty good at relationships, despite your misgivings," Liam says with a grin.

Harry scoffs. "No, I'm good at a relationship with you because you have the patience of a saint, the face of an angel and the body of a god."

Liam hugs him closer and breathes in his scent, which always makes Harry giggle.

"Hey," Harry says, wrapping his arms around Liam and bringing his face to Harry's until they're touching foreheads. "Move in with me."

Liam grins. "Thought you'd never ask."

Harry laughs happily, kissing the tip of Liam's nose gently. "I love you."

It's the first time he's said it but he can't keep it in any longer. He's been trying not to explode with it, desperate to say it since almost the first night he realised they'd been in a secret relationship that was so secret, Harry didn't realise he'd been in it.

Liam blinks twice. It makes Harry's heart twist and he doesn't want to admit it, but he's not sure what he'll do if Liam doesn't say it back. Liam's spent the past six months being the perfect boyfriend and Harry's tried really hard to be a good boyfriend in return, although he knows he's had a few slips. But he always tries to make up for it with sex, other sexual favours, kisses, romantic dinners, romantic trips and sometimes even begging.

But it's been at least two minutes and Liam hasn't said anything.

"Uh, it's okay, you don't have to say it back or anything," Harry says quickly and his heart feels like it's breaking. He'd been wondering why Liam hadn't said it before, but now he knew. Harry was unlovable. He was rubbish at relationships, no matter what Liam said. Liam's parents probably hated him and Liam was probably in love with some other perfect, gorgeous, brilliant guy and Harry would spend the rest of his life alone and pining because Liam was perfect and no one would ever measure up to him.

"Harry," Liam says quietly and Harry slowly raises his gaze, trying to be brave and strong when really he just wants to disappear. "I've been in love with you for six months. You're so perfect to me. Perfect for me."

Harry almost cries as he throws his arms around Liam and gulps in air nosily. He's just so grateful he doesn't have to be alone forever and he can still have sex with Liam because sex with Liam is mind-blowing and flawless and Liam's hands are so ... god, Liam's hands are fucking awesome. Not to mention his mouth. His dirty, beautiful, pretty mouth.

Harry kisses Liam's dirty, beautiful, pretty mouth and wonders how long he has to wait before he can drag Liam off to christen their new home together.


End file.
